U.K. Accused of Spying at G-20 Summits

Turkey, South Africa Particularly Targeted in Alleged Spying

By

Ainsley Thomson

Updated June 17, 2013 12:39 p.m. ET

LONDON—Turkey and South Africa are demanding an explanation from the U.K. government following allegations that British intelligence services spied on politicians and officials attending international summits in London at the height of the financial crisis.

The Guardian newspaper, citing documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, reported Monday the British intelligence agency GCHQ, or the government communications headquarters, monitored computers and intercepted phone calls of delegates attending two meetings of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in April and September 2009.

Some delegates were also reported to have been tricked into using Internet cafes that had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic. GCHQ is the intelligence agency in charge of electronic surveillance in the U.K.

Two countries—Turkey and South Africa—were particularly targeted in the alleged spying, the newspaper said.

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the allegations were alarming and summoned the U.K.'s ambassador in Ankara for an explanation.

"If there is even the slightest truth to any of these claims contained in this news report, this will evidently constitute a scandal primarily for the country concerned," the ministry said. "In an environment where mutual trust, respect and transparency should be essential for international cooperation, such act by an allied country would clearly be deemed unacceptable, should the news report turn out to be true."

South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation said it noted the allegations with concern and urged the U.K. government to investigate the matter fully.

"We do not yet have the full benefit of details reported on but in principle we would condemn the abuse of privacy and basic human rights particularly if it emanates from those who claim to be democrats," the department said.

The story comes at a sensitive time for the U.K. government, which is hosting world leaders attending the two-day summit of the Group of Eight leading nations in Northern Ireland. The new revelations also raise further questions about the surveillance apparatus operated by GCHQ and its U.S. counterpart, the NSA.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, who is in Northern Ireland at the G-8 summit, declined to comment on the latest allegations.

"I don't make comments on security or intelligence issues; that would be breaking something that no government has previously done," he said.

A spokesman for GCHQ also declined to comment.

GCHQ is alleged to have used an email-interception program and key-logging software to monitor delegates' computer use at the specially designed Internet cafes; penetrated the security on delegates' BlackBerrys to monitor their email messages and phone calls; and supplied 45 analysts with a live summary of who was phoning whom at the summits.

The Guardian said GCHQ also received reports of NSA's attempt to eavesdrop on the Russian leader, Dmitry Medvedev, as his phone calls passed through satellite links to Moscow.

Sergei Devyatov, head of Russia's Federal Protective Service, or FSO, which guards Russia's top officials, told the Interfax news agency that the service "takes all necessary measures and provides a proper level of information privacy for the country's top officials." He said that protecting the confidentiality of Russian government leaders is the "direct task of the FSO, which it carries out in accordance with active laws."

A Twitter feed belonging to Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian Parliament's international relations committee, weighed in on the accusation Monday. "Scandal!" one tweet said. "In 2009 at the G-20, U.S. and English intelligence services tapped the phone conversations of Medvedev. The U.S. denies but cannot be trusted. Total deception."

The documents leaked by Mr. Snowden suggest the operation was sanctioned at a senior level in the government of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and that the intelligence was passed on to senior lawmakers in the government, the newspaper said, adding that the purpose of the spying appeared to have been to give the U.K. an advantage in meetings.

Last week, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said allegations that GCHQ worked with its U.S. counterparts to unlawfully garner information on British citizens were baseless.

"Our agencies practice and uphold U.K. law at all times, even when dealing with information from outside the United Kingdom," he said.

Mr. Hague said GCHQ staff conduct themselves with the highest levels of integrity and legal compliance, and the agency had one of the strongest systems of checks and balances and democratic accountability for secret intelligence anywhere in the world.

Under U.K. law GCHQ and other intelligence agencies must seek authorization for their operations.

—Nicholas Winning and Cassell Bryan-Low in London and Paul Sonne in Moscow contributed to this article.

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